Drenched but determined
19 January 2007
by
Andrew Bull
Team
UniSA-Australia is in a commanding position after stage three of the Tour
Down Under, with Karl Menzies retaining the ochre jersey after today's
Stirling to Victor Harbor leg.Australia's Baden Cooke (Unibet) crossed the line first, followed seconds later by Team UniSA-Australia's Chris Jongewaard. Matt Goss (CSC) came in third, making it an all-Australian top three.
Team UniSA-Australia went into stage three in a good position this morning, despite the withdrawal of Brett Aitkin during yesterday's Mannum to Hahndorf stage.
Wearing the ochre jersey as overall leader, Karl Menzies said before the race that today would be "about the team".
"We've just got to keep it safe and make sure no CSC boys get near time and hopefully hold the jersey till tomorrow and make it up that climb", referring to the gruelling King of the Mountain section up Old Willunga Hill in tomorrow's Willunga to Willunga stage.
The weather is always a factor in the Tour Down Under but it's usually the blistering heat that tests the riders. Today, during the height of local water restrictions, the riders were treated to a shower for most of the race, the cooler conditions making for some fast riding.
A group of 19 riders, including Team UniSA-Australia's Mitchell Docker and Chris Jongewaard, broke away from the peloton early in the race, with a 20-second lead at the first sprint stage at Echunga.
Viktor Rapinski (Navigators Insurance) won the sprints at both Echunga and Goolwa, by which stage the time between pack and peloton was up to five minutes.
The gap - and the heavens - opened up as the first riders started to climb the summit of Kerby Hill around 12.45, an hour after the first rains had started to fall.
Gianpaolo Cheula (Barloworld) won the King of the Mountain as the rain
got heavier and heavier. The front pack had split into two as the riders
came down the hill towards Victor Harbor. Mitchell Docker rode in the second
group, leaving Chris Jongewaard in the front pack of nine for Team UniSA-Australia.
The front pack had been reduced to only six riders with 3km to go, Cooke
eventually taking line honours from Jongewaard and Goss.
Jongewaard said he was pretty happy with his effort but lamented not being able to get up in the final seconds to beat Cooke.
Fortunately for Team UniSA-Australia, none of the 19 breakaway riders was in a position to challenge Karl Menzies for the position of race leader. He will retain the ochre jersey going into tomorrow's Willunga to Willunga stage of the TDU.